Last month, Malk Sustainability Partners attended the World Economic Forum on East Asia to support the participation of two of our clients: Bakrie & Brothers and Marvell Technology Group, who jointly chaired the premier networking event of the Forum. ‘WEF’ is a gathering of top leaders from the public and private sectors coming together to explore business and policy solutions with the express purpose of building a better world. Chaired by Indonesian President Yudhoyono, the 2 day forum focused on how the 600 million citizens of Southeast Asia should respond to a new globalism; it brought together high profile leaders ranging from Paul Polman of consumer products giant Unilever to Karen Agustiawan of Indonesian gas giant Pertamina Persero to explore regional challenges including infrastructure development, workforce development, and the emergence of a single Southeast Asian economy.
An overarching theme in these discussions was the role of environmental management and sustainability in East Asian development. Green issues were two of the three core issues at the WEF event, “Redrawing the ‘GreenPrint’ of Asia’s Energy Architecture” and “Defying Deforestation: A Game Changer for Climate Change”. We actively supported our clients’ participation on each panel.
So why were private sector leaders like Chevron’s Melody Meyer concerned with environmental issues at an economic forum? The answer is two-fold: 1) business is positioned to facilitate sustainable development by adapting to the needs of globalism faster than the public sector, and 2) corporate leaders recognize that environmental strategies spanning an organization’s operations are a compelling new paradigm helping to shape the business winners of the future.
MSP ensured its clients maximized the value of participation by making introductions between client principles and Indonesian leaders and advising client positions and remarks on sustainability issues such as resource consumption and the role of communications technology in facilitating sustainable development.To learn more about WEF East Asia, sustainability at the event, or MSP’s role, please contact us.